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I ride a 56 cannondale ss evo but plan to downsize my frame to a 54.I'm 181cm tall with a 83cm inseam. bb to saddle is 73.5cm.My current 56 frame has a 15.5cm headtube, where the 54 size has 14cm.I only use the 25mm supersix conical spacer under my -12deg/110mm stem(115mm actual)To be able to simulate the drop of a 54 frame by using the same conical spacer again, i lowered the stem 1.5cm and took some pictures.What do you think about my downsize choice?Note:Drop will be about same, and reach will be 1.5cm closer with a 54 frame, different from the pictured 56 framesetWhen looking at the pictures, i also find out that, i have to lower my seatpost about 0.5cm(last picture)

Bora abi hello, it's Efe from Tuesday-Thursday group I remember you were using a Scott CR1 size 54 and loved the fit, before moving to the Evo. I'd suggest looking at the CR1 charts and see how close you can get with a 54 Evo.

Planning to get a Giant TCR Advanced, possibly an SL, and I'm having a very hard time deciding between the XS and S since they're very close to each other. Anyway, making a decision based on my current ride, which is a Jamis Xenith Comp, and how I'm fitted on it based on a Retul fit session.

Anyway, here's a little geometry chart I made for the two Giants and my Jamis:The second numbers on the stack and reach of the two Giants are measurements pulled from the Retul Database, first are from Giant.

Now.... Here's why I'm having such a problem deciding between the two. My current ride is smacked right in between the two sizes in terms of stack and reach. Currently riding with no spacer, just the headset, with a 83-85mm handlebar drop.

If I go with XS, I have the ability of lowering my stem by 28mm. Though I'm not so sure I really want to or even need to go that low because I actually dropped 1cm last year during my fit. Though I ride fast and hard, I do enjoy doing 100-125mile rides every weekend(with a lot of climbs involved). My worries for the XS is, the seat tube angle, currently riding my Jamis with a zero setback post with my saddle almost all the way forward. Of course, as a weightweenie, the XS is lighter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, with the S, I have more leeway in terms of saddle position. The extra reach is good, because I may use a 110mm stem instead of my current 120mm since I do prefer a little bit more stiffness to it. Going back to the stack, The most I can drop my stem/handlebar is 1-1.5cm. Though I did express that I'm not sure I would be interested in going any lower, wouldn't that amount be too limited in terms of adjust-ability?

So yeah, very tough choice. Both sizes do have its own merits. What do you guys think, what size should I get and why?

Just a little background - In May last year I had an accident where I cut 2 tendons in my hand with plenty of nerve damage. After having surgery and a lot of physiotherapy I'm finally back on the bike - perhaps better than before with a more focused/organised structure.

Somehow over that time my seat post went down by 3cm (I was fiddling around with the clamp, must have happened then).

When I got back after such a long time off, I was oblivious to the seatpost being lower and I've been riding like that for about 3 weeks now.

My initial observations were:

- The slight knee pain & neck aches I got after long rides went away.- I was able to ride in the drops for longer and comfortably.- My legs got tired much later than before despite taking such a time off the bike.- My time/speed averages haven't changed (after building my fitness back up I was able to compare them)

Before the accident I was chatting to one of the fitters down at Sigma Sport in London (ones that I would trust) and he was surprised at my saddle height, I coincidentally had my Retul fit results handy on my phone, when he looked through it he said yeah it all seems correct (based to angles etc & measurements were all correct).

So, when I noticed the difference in the saddle height, I brought it back up and it was an agonising ride. I got that feeling of [hard to explain] when you fully extend your legs and flex them hard after a ride feeling while on the bike. In other words, tired, crampy, lactic acidy feeling very early into my ride (as well as over stretched). Another thing I noticed was, I had much better control over the bike with a lower saddle height.

I have my saddle about 1.5 cm lower than where my fitter wanted it. I tried to make it work for a long time but in the end decided that I should listen to my body instead of the fitter so I left it where I liked it the best.

Not that this means much, but my personal database of bike fits of professional riders show saddle heights ranging between 77.5 (Michael Rogers) and 82 cm (Mikel Astarloza) for riders between 185 and 186 cm (sample size is 11). But those values are somewhat outside the norm, with the average saddle height at about 79 cm. So your saddle height would be at the upper end of that range, but you mentioned you have long legs.

I would ride it at 79 cm and raise the saddle slowly, until you feel like it is not working anymore. Of course if it feels best at 79 cm, then just leave it there.

fa63 wrote:I would ride it at 79 cm and raise the saddle slowly, until you feel like it is not working anymore. Of course if it feels best at 79 cm, then just leave it there.

Thank you

79 feels great so far, still experimenting. To be honest, coming down from the original height, my ride has changed dramatically, much better, makes me wonder why I was fitted at tht height or rather why it felt "correct"...